AngelHeart
by Marc Ezra
Summary: Rinoa wakes up not knowing where she is or how she got there. The only memory she has is the memory of Squall's face but she doesn't know who he is. She is kidnapped and recruited by Chaos after discovering that she isone called "The Destroyer". She alone has the power to destroy a god. Friendships are made, traitors are born, and lives are lost while both sides try to recruit her.
1. Martyrdom

Rinoa's eyes fluttered opened. She was now awake, though the corners of her vision were still blurry. Noticing she was on the grassy ground she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She pushed her face into her hand, trying to stave off the headache she felt coming. Rinoa half closed eyes saddened shot opened when she realized—she had no clue where she was. She stood up and looked around, taking in the sight of grass and trees.

Rinoa ended up backing into the side of a giant magnificent crystal tower. She backed away from the tower, gazing upward, taking in its full glory. "Wow" she said in awe of the tower. Rinoa suddenly heard slow footsteps in the nearby grass. She hurriedly pushed her back against the side of the tower, trying to hide and slowly inch away.

She saw a man with long flowing silver hair come into her view. Inching over into a more shadowy part of the wall she was against, Rinoa kept as quiet as she could. Sephiroth stopped abruptly, closing his eyes. All too sudden, a long sword appeared in his hand and he immediately pointed it at Rinoa, making her yelp. "Who are you?" he asked, his sword right under her uplifted chin, just a couple inches away from the small of her neck. Something struck Rinoa then. That very second, she realized-she didn't know her own name. Breathing hard with wary eyes trained onto the long sword she spoke. "I-I don't know"

"I have never seen you before. You cannot possibly be a warrior of Chaos. Therefore, you must be a warrior of Cosmos." He said.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Rinoa said, trying to control the fear in her voice.

"Well," Sephiroth said with a slight smile on his face, "pulling back the long sword, preparing to thrust it forward into Rinoa, "We'll just have to dispose of you, just to be safe."

Right as Sephiroth was about to impale Rinoa with the sword, another blow came from nowhere, repelling the blow and knocking Sephiroth blade from his hand. Sephiroth and Rinoa simultaneously turned their heads to see Auron standing with his blade over his shoulder. "Leave her alone, Sephiroth!" he ordered. He walked over in front of Rinoa, standing between her and Sephiroth. "Get out of here" he said over his shoulder. Rinoa instantly scurried away, nearly tripping over her feet as she jumped into a portal.

Auron assumed his battle position, as he prepared to fight Sephiroth. Auron grimaced as a small smile formed on Sephiroth's face. He didn't even try to retrieve his sword. Auron was about to strike him before several razor sharp arrows materialized around him. Sephiroth grunted mockingly. Ultimecia materialized next to Sephiroth. "Your time is up, Warrior of Cosmos" she said. She snapped her fingers and all the arrows hurled themselves at Auron, impaling him in multiple parts of his body and pinning him to the side of the tower.

Auron's blood trickled down the wall of the tower as he started to hyperventilate in agony. Ultimecia smiled, watching him die. Auron clinged onto life, with his hand wrapped tightly around his sword, not ready to die. Not without a fight. "Troublesome." Ultimecia said. "I absolutely detest it when they refuse to die." She lifted up one hand, and pulled it back, drawing back one of the arrows. Auron gasped in pain as the arrow exited his body. Ultimecia then lazily pointed back at Auron, making the arrow thrust into him. First once. Then twice. Then a third time. Auron cried out in pain as more and more of his blood created a small puddle below him. He still didn't die. "Hmph!" Ultimecia said. She spread both her arms out, summoning all of the arrows, unpinning Auron from the wall behind and making him fall to his knees in the puddle of blood. Ultimecia thrust both her open arms forward, willing all the arrows to lunge at Auron one final time. Before the barrage of arrows coming toward him impaled him completely Auron managed to mutter "Don't let my death be in vain."

_Don't let my death be in vain_. Rinoa heard Auron's words in the air around her as she ran, not knowing where to. She ran around the halls of the castle Pandaemonium, completely lost. She stopped and leaned against a broken column, letting out one big exasperated breath. "Where am I?" she complained aloud. "Who's there?" a wary voice alerted. Rinoa hid behind the pillar. "Hello?" the voice called out. "I heard a voice, is anyone there?" Rinoa ignored the soft voice that she concluded was obviously female. She tried hiding until the other girl went away. But she grew all too curious to see so she peeked around the pillar and saw a Yuna. She was probably Rinoa's age, with a staff, and a short haircut. She looked innocent enough. Rinoa was going to come from hiding until she heard the sound of a portal opening followed by another voice.

"Well, well, well, well, well, WELL! What have we here? A little lost lingering LOSER don't we?"

"Who are you?" Yuna asked gingerly.

"Oh, meee? Kefka Palazzo, nice to meet ya! Oh wait, wait, wait, and WAIT! You're a warrior of Cosmos. Sorry sweetcakes but you gotta die!"

"Please, just let me pass"

Rinoa gasped and cupped her hand over her mouth. The crazed clown was going to kill that innocent girl. _Why? _She wondered to herself. And this was the second time she's heard about being a warrior of Cosmos.

Kefka hopped atop a broken pillar, balancing himself there with one foot, glaring down at Yuna. "Goodbye, sweetie!" he laughed flicking a little white orb towards Yuna. It danced around her and suddenly exploded, sending Yuna flying and crashing harshly to the ground. Rinoa heard the explosion followed by Yuna's scream. She peaked around the pillar and saw Yuna, trying to get up but her body was too damaged and she fell to the ground. Kefka hopped down and towards Yuna, a sword now in his hand to deliver the killing blow.

"No!" Rinoa screamed, running toward Yuna. She flicked her wrist at Kefka, sending him flying. She locked in her Blaster Edge, and held it up defensively as she stood in front of Yuna. Kefka crashed unto a wall. "Well that hurt!" he said. "Stay away from her!" Rinoa yelled back. Kefka regained his composure and stood up. "Why?" Toying with your prey is FUN!" he said and spun around and flailed his arms downward. A bolt of thunder showed up about to strike Yuna. On impulse, Rinoa held out her hand at the thunderbolt about to strike Yuna behind her, stopping it. She breathed hard and looked down at Yuna who could've died had Rinoa not acted instantly. She glared back at Kefka who looked shocked. With her left hand still held out over Yuna, halting the lightning bolt, Rinoa flailed her right hand downward at Kefka, summoning her own lightning bolt which struck him where he stood. Kefka was forced to the ground. Most of his clothes were burnt and he had a long scar going down his back from the lightning strike. He was hurt and bad. "I'll be back" he growled as a dark portal opened behind him and he crawled into his, disappearing completely.

Using the hand that was halting the bolt of lightning, Rinoa closed her open palm into a fist, making the bolt disappear. "Are you okay?" she asked Yuna.

"This…Isn't how it was supposed to go" she said.

Rinoa waved her hand over Yuna, making a magnificent white-blue light appear above her, healing her. "You… You know magic" Yuna said.

"Yeah, I'm a Sorceress" Rinoa said. She instantly felt something trigger in her mind. She mentally congratulated herself for remembering that.

"Thanks for helping me." Yuna said. "I'm a Summoner, my name is Yuna."

Rinoa didn't say anything. She just looked down, grabbing her left arm with her right hand. "You… You don't remember your name?" Yuna asked. Rinoa just shook her head. Yuna gently placed her hand on Rinoa's arm. "It's okay. I can help you. Do you remember anything?"

Rinoa looked sad. She lightly shook her head again. "Don't worry, I will help you. We have to get you to Cosmos." Yuna said and began to walk down the halls of Pandaemonium. When she didn't hear footsteps other than her own, she turned around and smiled at Rinoa. "Are you coming?" she asked playfully. Rinoa hurriedly followed after her.

After long moments of walking in silence, Rinoa and Yuna found a big door that led outside into The World of Darkness. Rinoa felt chills down her spine. She didn't like the feeling this place was giving her. She held herself as she walked, not too far behind Yuna. Abruptly, Rinoa stopped. The place was hollow so every footstep echoed. When Yuna stopped hearing Rinoa's echoing footsteps, she too stopped. "Is something wrong?" she asked, turning to Rinoa.

"Yuna?" she replied.

"Yes?"

"Who is Cosmos?"

Yuna pondered on the question for a moment. She laughed. "To tell you the truth, I barely know myself. All I can tell you is that she is the goddess of Harmony." She then stopped. "Don't you know that?" she said. Rinoa shook her head. "I don't know anything." She said. "Everything's a blur. I have faint memories of a couple faces and the knowledge of my Sorceress power and how to use it but that's all. I don't even know where I am or how I got here." Yuna was going to say something but she didn't. She and Rinoa both stood there staring at each other in shock. They both heard footsteps. "Hide!" Yuna whispered to Rinoa, taking her hand and hiding behind a pillar. She and Rinoa crouched down. The foot steps suddenly stopped. Yuna held her hand over her heart, letting out a breath in relief.

Suddenly, something jumped down from high upon a pillar and landed right in front of Yuna and Rinoa, holding a long spear. They both screamed and closed their eyes. "Yuna?" a familiar deep voice said. Yuna opened her eyes slowly. "Kain!" she exclaimed.

"What are you doing? You should not be here" said Kain.

"Indeed" another voice said. Kain whipped around to find the Cloud of Darkness floating towards them. Kain lifted his spear at it. "Stay away!" he warned. "Foolish warrior. You wander into the World of Darkness and expect more than your impending demise?"

"I've not come to slay you, Cloud of Darkness, not this time."

"Hmph. You could not slay us if you wanted too. We, too, have come for more than delivering punishment upon you impudent warriors of Cosmos. We have come… for her" the Cloud of Darkness pointed to Rinoa, making her eyes widen. "No!" Yuna shouted, standing up next to Kain. "We won't let you take her!"

"You haven't a choice. You will either hand her over to us, or die" it said, an absolute indifferent look of complete boredom on its face.

Kain charged at the Cloud, pushing it back and skillfully swinging his staff at it, allowing it to dodge, parry, and repel every attack, just to buy time. "Yuna!" he shouted

"Right!" Yuna shouted back, jumping backward so that she was right in front of Rinoa. She summoned her staff and starting swinging it around, performing a majestic summoning dance. "Ifrit, protect us" she said lowly. Ifrit appeared out of thin air, flames crackling around him, and summoned a wall of fire around Yuna and Rinoa and disappeared into flames.

Cloud of Darkness waved her hand, sending Kain crashing to the ground far away and disappeared into smoke. Rinoa yelped as it reappeared behind her, putting its hand over her mouth. "No!" Kain shouted, pulling himself up by stabbing his spear into the ground and using it to support his weight as he got to his feet, trying to ignore the pain. The Cloud of Darkness simply shot him a look as it disappeared with Yuna and Rinoa as Kain collapsed in pain.


	2. Trump Card

"What's going on?" Squall asked walking into Order's Sanctuary, seeing Cosmos, Warrior of Light, Shantotto, and Lightning standing over Kain. "Kain's injured" Lightning said. "He managed to get all the way here and then he collapsed."

"What happened? Was he attacked by manikins?" Squall asked kneeling next to him. Lightning ignored him, focusing more on helping Shantotto heal Kain. "We have yet to know the cause of his injuries. He is not well, or conscious, enough to tell us." Warrior of Light filled in. Cosmos stood over to the side, looking at Kain, her hands grasping each other over her chest.

"Bad news!" Jecht came running in followed by Prishe and Quistis. "What's wrong?" Cosmos asked. "We've looked around everywhere and we can't find Yuna!" Jecht said.

"What could've happened to her? Yuna would never go out alone would she?" Asked Cosmos

Jecht thought for a moment. He got angry as he suddenly had an epiphany. "Damn!" he said. "She went after that damn runt!"

"Tidus?" Lightning asked, joining the conversation.

"Yeah"

"Wait, isn't he on Chaos's side?" Quistis asked.

Lightning looked at Jecht. "Yeah," he said looking more than a little ashamed. Lightning crossed her arms across her chest. "Yuna" Kain grunted. "Kain! Don't say anything. You've gotten yourself in such a mess. Take your time, you won't heal if you don't rest." Shantotto said, sounding worried. "I'm fine" he said, grunting and sitting up. "Yuna was kidnapped." He grunted again, holding his stomach, "By Chaos."

"How do you know?" Jecht exclaimed.

"The Cloud of Darkness took her. She was defending some girl."

"What girl?"

"I didn't get a chance to ask her name."

"Any clue who she is?" Quistis asked. "A name?"

"I-I don't know."

"Why does it even matter? We don't even know if she's on our side or not" Lightning retorted

"I don't think she is. Not if Yuna was defending her" Quistis offered as a rebuttal

"And what about Yuna? We have to rescue Yuna!" said Jecht.

"Will you open your eyes, Jecht? If she was taken by Chaos she will probably be brainwashed and used against us! You _know_ how low Chaos's side can be! And if she is, it's our job to get rid of her."

Everyone went silent, all eyes were on Lightning. "What're you saying, Lightning?" Jecht asked.

"I'm saying" she paused. "A target's a target"

Jecht was caught by surprised at what Lightning said. He balled his fists at his side in anger. Summoning his sword, he lifted it at Lightning. "I won't let you hurt Yuna!" he shouted. Aggravated, Lightning drew her gunblade from its holster, allowing it to stay in gun form as she aimed at Jecht. "You're pathetic, Jecht. You remind me of someone I know back in my world"

"Go to hell, Light."

"You first"

"Both of you stop it!" Quistis shouted, stamping her foot. Everyone looked at Quistis who was pinching the hill of her nose in aggravation. "Look at what you're doing. You're turning against each other. Keep this up and Chaos's side won't need to lift a finger to win this cycle!" Lightning and Jecht both looked of each other with equal looks of contrition. The moment Jecht willed his weapon to disappear, Lightning put her gunblade away.

Cosmos decided to speak up. "Lightning, you are right. If Yuna is brainwashed that will make her an enemy. But in which case we will need to try even harder to bring her back. She's our friend, it won't be hard." Lightning nodded once. "Jecht," Cosmos said, facing Jecht. "I admire your valiance towards Yuna but no matter what, you shouldn't turn your arms on your allies." Jecht scratched the back of his head, embarrassed by his actions.

"As for the other girl, she is not a warrior I summoned here." Cosmos said, earning her a few shocked gasps among her warriors. "But she is not a warrior of Chaos either."

"How is that even possible?" Squall asked.

"I thought the war was just between you and Chaos?" Lightning added.

"It is. But during one cycle, Shinryu and Cid made a deal in which they would summon a warrior that had the potential to turn the tides of war if recruited by either sides."

"A secret weapon, in a manner of speaking." Warrior of Light said.

"Or a trump card" Lightning added.

"Yes," Cosmos said. "That girl alone has the power to bring down a god."

"Great. Now that 'weapon' is in the hands of Chaos" Lightning said, crossing her arms.

"How is it that Chaos knew about her before we did?" asked Warrior of Light.

"Chaos and his warriors must have been watching and waiting." Quistis answered.

Everyone went silent in thought. Quistis even started to pace around. Squall was to himself, his arms folded across his chest and he gaze to the ground, simply waiting for an order to go rescue Yuna and the 'trump card'. Suddenly, something hit him. His head shot up. "Cosmos" he said. "There is something you're not telling us." Everyone's gazes went to Squall who had previously been so quiet. "What do you mean?" Warrior of Light asked in Cosmos's defense. "Quistis asked Kain about who the girl was, she even asked for a name. You said nothing then, yet you knew all of this. What're you hiding?"

Cosmos looked away from Squall, her gaze lingering on the ground. Squall was right and he knew it. She was hiding something.

"Cosmos?" Quistis said, her voice faltering.

"I didn't think it would be wise to tell you…"

"Tell us what?" Squall said, the expression on his face all too stern.

"You would act on your emotions and get yourself hurt! I didn't want that to happen…"

"Tell us _what_?" Squall repeated, emphasizing each word.

Cosmos's lifting her head, looking at both Squall and Quistis who were standing directly in front of her with contrition in her eyes. "She is from your world" she said.

Squall and Quistis exchanged looks. "Do we know her?" Quistis asked. Cosmos nodded once. "You both do." She said.

"Who is she?"

Cosmos took a deep breath before answering. Squall's eyebrow went up in annoyance, eager to hear what she was going to say. His memory was already shot, he was sure whoever that girl was, she would bring most of his memory back if she was so important Cosmos thought it was a good idea to withhold who she is. "Her name is Rinoa Heartilly"

Squall's mind became a blur of racing memories. He caught a glimpse of Rinoa falling off the side of an airship, one of her floating about in space, low on oxygen, one of both him and her. His head was on her lap in a field of flowers and she was looking down to him with tears flowing down her face, and a final one of her in a short cream dress, gazing adoringly at him after their dance at the SeeD ball, while he was taking in the sight of the congratulatory fireworks. Most of his memories were restored. He knew exactly who Rinoa was the moment Cosmos spoke her name. At that point all that mattered was getting her back.


	3. The Promise

Note: Kinda brought the magic "Ruin" in from Final Fantasy XIII. Don't be too caught off guard when someone not from FFXIII uses it. Just thought I'd say that. This chapter was kind of fun for me to write myself. I actually did something really cool in this chapter. If you've played FFVIII, you remember when the monsters fell from the moon and it was called the "Lunar Cry?" So I took that name and made it a special skill for Rinoa. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. ;]

Chapter 3:

Rinoa lay unconscious; arms bound to the massive replica of Jecht's sword plunged into the ground at Dream's End. Kefka walked down the platform towards the gigantic sword along with Kuja and a bewitched Terra. "So _this _is our little princess, isn't it?" he said, smirking up at the unconscious Rinoa. "Yes" Kuja replied. "Do be careful with her, she's very crucial to our plan to get rid of Cosmos once and for all."

"Ahh don't worry. I just wanna have a little FUN with her, that's all."

"Make that _non_-precarious fun, Kefka." Kuja said, floating away.

"Fine, fine, fine, whatever!" Kefka shooed Kuja away with the back of his hand. "Now _you_!" Kefka snapped his fingers, making electricity flow around Rinoa, shocking her. She screamed as it electrocuted her. Once it ended she was breathlessly staring down at Kefka. "W-what do you want?" she asked, panting.

"Oh me? Oh I _was_ going to walk away and find someone else to play with but since you're awake-!" He seemingly sat on an invisible chair, floating in place, with his hands cupping his face as his elbows rested on his knees, "-how are ya?"

Rinoa was sweating from the pain the shock before had brought upon her. "What do you want with me?" she asked, nearly in tears.

"Ah ah ah! Wrong answer!" he snapped his fingers again, making the electricity surge through and torture Rinoa more. She screamed and writhed in pain. "Stop it!" she begged, tears flowing freely down her face. Kefka pretended to think. "Hmm" he said. "No!" and snapped his fingers again, further torturing Rinoa. He danced around and laughed maniacally. "Remember when I said I'd be back? Well, I'm back!" Another snap triggered more agonizing screams. Rinoa's body wouldn't allow her to take anymore. The pain caused her to pass out cold. "Damn!" Kefka said, "Just when it was getting fun!" he snapped his fingers in disappointment, triggering semi-conscious cries behind him. "Oops!" he cackled, dancing away. Terra seemed to have had no conscious mind of her own. She followed after Kefka with a blank expression.

Rinoa's head drooped downward. She didn't have enough strength to keep it up. Tears fell from her face to the ground below as she lay bound and suspended above the ground. She still felt her body convulsing from the pain. She wished she could fall unconscious again. Being awake was far too agonizing. She stayed there, in pain, for what felt like hours but there was no way of telling. Rinoa had no clue what she had gotten into or how. Her eyes slowly started to shut, fluttering as the pains in her body start to subside. She knew this was it; she had finally met her sweet liberator, death. Before she started to fade and the dark corners of her vision started to close in, Rinoa started to hear footsteps. But instead of sounding louder as the footsteps got closer, the sound started to fade. She heard a faint voice say something.

_Not yet, Princess._

With her eyes closed and her very being beginning to fade, Rinoa felt something around her. It was an aura. It felt violent, sickening, and malevolent. Suddenly, as she began to reach for the light at the end of the tunnel, she was wrenched away from it. She felt soft lips meet her own. The feeling of something dark and powerful entering her body through her mouth followed. She screamed in agony as the feeling of absolute destruction took over her body. It was as though whatever was inside her was tearing every part of her apart on the inside. Her body convulsed in writhed, never feeling anything close to such a pain. She pushed against the hard material of the stone sword behind her with her legs as she wallowed in pain. The pain came to an abrupt stop. Rinoa never opened her eyes; she tightened them as she cried tears falling down her face and onto her chest as freely as a waterfall. She slowly opened her eyes and through the blur of the tears saw a blue-haired man hovering before her. His eyes were a soft gray and he had faded blue tattoos on his face. His face was soft and to Rinoa he was beautiful. She knew he had come to save her; this man was going to take her away from this pain.

He took one clawed hand and gently wiped the tears from her eyes and gently smiled at her. "Who…are...you?" Rinoa managed to mutter brokenly, her face pale. "I am Seymour. Seymour Guado, young sorceress."

"What did you do to me?" she groaned, fear and pain in her broken voice.

"The ancient magic, Ruin. I had to keep you from drifting away, love." He caressed her face gently with the back of his hand. He pressed his soft lips against her rosy lips sweetly. Rinoa's eyes widened at what was happening. She saw Seymour's eyes were closed. He kissed her passionately eventually making Rinoa given in and close her eyes. He pulled back momentarily. "Don't worry, this won't be painful" he said and pressed his lips against hers again. He parted her lips with his and she felt his warm breath in her mouth. A soft white-blue light formed in Seymour's mouth and he transferred it over into her through a kiss. It passed through her opened lips and went into her body. She felt the warm soft light spread through her, healing every pain, every spasm of muscles the previous spell had caused, even the pain and bruises around her wrists from the chains went away. Seymour pulled away and met Rinoa's eyes. He saw the pinkness of her cheekbones return and the more meticulous color features in her skin as well. "Are we feeling better, love?" he asked her, a gentle smile on his face as he cupped her face in his hand. She nodded, instantly feeling her face get hot from the blood rushing to it in her embarrassment.

She then noticed something. She didn't see Yuna anywhere around. The last thing she remembered was being kidnapped by the Cloud of Darkness. But even then, Yuna was there. "Where's Yuna?" she asked, her face full of concern. Seymour's eyes closed but his smile didn't falter. "Ah, Lady Yuna," he said. "You needn't worry about her."

"What are talking about?"

"She will not be needed. As an additive, she_ is_ a warrior of Cosmos." Seymour said. He lowered himself down to the ground below and looked up at Rinoa as he backed down the stretch that lead to the giant sword. He opened his arms as he smiled up at Rinoa whose brow went up in confusion. He summoned Yuna into his arms earning him a surprised gasp from Rinoa. "Meister Seymour!" Yuna exclaimed.

"Yuna!" Rinoa called down to her.

"You! What did they-" Yuna's sentence was cut short as Seymour took one long razor sharp claw and slit her throat. She fell to the ground, holding her hands up to her throat as she gasped for air. Blood seeped out of her open wound and spilled out onto the floor. It stained her white kimono top a deep crimson.

Rinoa's jaw dropped. She watched Yuna gasp for air on the ground below her. Her gaze then drifted to Seymour who was standing above Yuna with a sick sadistic smile on his face. He turned and began to walk away. Rinoa's stomach turned as she watched Yuna slowly and painfully die. She got a painful feeling in her heart and she felt like it dropped. Yuna, the girl that tried to protect her from Cloud of Darkness was dying. She suddenly felt angry. She felt like a small spark in her soul ignited and began a valiant vengeful flame. She watched Seymour walk away, without caring what he had done to the innocent girl writhing on the ground.

Her chains shimmered and glowed a magnificent and bright white light. They resonated and disintegrated completely into white specks of light. She lightly dropped to the ground below her. Her hands balled into fists at her sides. She started to create bruising on the inside of her palm from her fingers digging into them. She glared at Seymour, who was completely oblivious to her being free. Anger took over her and her eyes started to glow a white light and big brilliant white angel wings appeared from her back. She lifted her hands in front of her and Seymour lost gravity. He ascended into the air uncontrollably. Rinoa lifted her hands until they were high above her head and Seymour was high in the air. She then dropped her hands and Seymour fell, violently hitting the ground. Rinoa heard a crack and she hoped Seymour broke something. He groaned in pain. She walked to Yuna and summoned a ball of white-blue light into her hand, then placing her hand on the wound on Yuna's neck, allowing the light to heal it. Yuna stopped panting and gasping for air and the cut closed up. Yuna fell into unconsciousness.

Rinoa walked to Seymour who was crumbled in on himself. She stopped several feet in front of him. He turned his head to look at her. "It was for you."

Rinoa shook her head. "Nothing good comes from hurting people." She held at her hand in front of her at Seymour and spread her fingers wide. Rinoa's wings extended to full glory as she cast the spell, Demi, summoning a huge black ball of energy that encased Seymour. He closed his eyes and turned his head skyward, accepting his fate. Rinoa then closed her opened hand into a fist, willing the black ball of energy to consume Seymour.

Nothing was left of him. Rinoa pirouetted around to see the back of an unconscious Yuna. She blinked slowly and allowed one tear to fall from her eye, the tear as pure white as her eyes and wings. The tear appeared as a cylinder shape on her face. Rinoa threw her head back and the transparent white cylinder floated before her, extending and becoming a huge white cylinder-like beam of light that was coming directly from the moon above. The light engulfed Yuna and took her away as the moon reclaimed its light. Rinoa's gaze followed the light back to the moon as she hoped Yuna made it back to Cosmos okay. "Take care, Yuna." She said to herself. "I'll come after you soon. But now… Now, I want answers."

The irises in Rinoa's eyes returned in their normal chestnut brown states and her wings combusted into many feathers which flew benevolently around, many of them passing by to caress Rinoa's face. She held her hand out and took one into her hand. She closed her hand around it and the brunet man with gray-blue eyes appeared in her mind again. The only face she remembered though she had no clue as to who he was. Even so, she knew he was important to her retrieving her memories and getting back to where she belonged. She closed her eyes and sent out a silent promise to that man. _I'll be waiting here. So if you come here, you'll find me._ She opened her hand and the feather magically transmuted into a pink rose petal. It glowed and resonated magic. It took flight from her hand, riding the wind into the distance. "I promise."

A/N: Notice the "Ruin" and "Lunar Cry?" Leave reviews and thanks for reading! I had fun writhing this chapter.


	4. Yuna's Story

Note: So I'm starting to do sub-chapters. I'm so surprised I made it this far into "AngelHeart." I have a lot planned for Rinoa. Thank you guys so much for reading I have tons of fun writing. If you guys haven't noticed by now, "AngelHeart" takes place around one of the earlier cycles so expect to see a bunch of new characters.

Chapter 4:

"Balthier!" She called, shooting the manikin, which was preparing to strike behind him, in the chest. The magicite-tipped arrow making the pink crystalline copy of Lightning shatter upon impact. "On your guard, Fran!" Balthier called back after blasting the purple Transient Witch modeled to look like Ultimecia to pieces with his shotgun. Fran drew another arrow as Balthier called out to her again. "Behind you, Fran!"

Fran put t he arrow in her mouth and flanked right, dodging the blue sword that was lunged at her head. She looked back and, using the literal heel of her foot, kicked Warrior of Light's manikin's head in then quickly notched the arrow in her mouth onto her bowstring and shot another manikin. Balthier and Fran finished off the manikins that were around them, standing in piles of colorful crystals but an army more was appearing from the distance. Balthier winked at Fran. "Why don't you handle those, love?"

Fran flung her bow over her shoulder and summoned two icy blue orbs of light in both of her hands. She tosses one at the mass of manikins, and then the other, creating giant pillars of freezing ice. Fran then blew the remaining icy mist in her hand and it floated lazily to the pillars of ice encasing the manikins. "Break!" she called and on command the ice shattered, shattering the multicolored manikins with it.

"Reckless, aren't you?" Lightning said, coming from behind the two of them along with Squall, Quistis, and Jecht. Balthier and Fran whipped around to meet her gaze. "You should've called for us. You could've died fighting off all those things alone."

"Forgotten my role in this story already, have we?" Balthier said. Lightning's brow went up. Balthier flashed his trademark smile. "I'm the leading man. And you know what they say about the leading man: he never dies."

Lightning rolled her eyes with her arms folded across her chest. "How is Kain?" Fran asked.

"He'll live" Lightning responded. Fran looked around and noticed the fact that Lightning, Jecht, Quistis, and Squall were traveling as a party. "Where are you going?"

"Rescue mission, we-"

"Come quick!" Prishe came clumsily running after the group tripping over her feet.

Everyone ran after Prishe back to Order's Sanctuary. Everyone's jaw dropped at what they'd seen once they got there. Yuna was unconscious, outstretched on Cosmos's throne. "Yuna!" Jecht ran forward, quickly taking notice of her blood stained kimono. "Is she dead?" he asked Cosmos.

"Use your head a little," Lightning intruded, walking up to Yuna. She looked down at her on the throne. "If she was dead she would've faded from this realm." Jecht glared at Lightning for a moment, and then his gaze quickly went back to Yuna. Fran walked up and checked Yuna's pulse. "She lives" she said.

"How'd she even get here?" Lightning asked Cosmos.

"The moon" she said. Lightning's brow went up in questioning. "The moon beamed its light upon this sanctuary, carrying Yuna."

"The moon beamed her here?" Lightning asked, confused. "Is that even possible?"

"It is quite possible." Fran said. "But it requires the use of very powerful magicks."

"Who possesses magic that powerful?"

Before anyone could respond to Lightning's question a single pure white feather gently glided down, swaying back and fourth in its dissension, and landed on Yuna's chest. The feature emitted a pure white light and Yuna jumped out of unconsciousness with a gasp. "Yuna!" Jecht exclaimed, taking Yuna into his arms in a big embrace. "Sir Jecht!" she said. "I-I'm sorry Sir Jecht but you're suffocating me."

"Sorry" he said as he chuckled and scratched the back of his head. He grabbed her shoulders gently. "You shouldn't have gone out alone." He said.

"I'm sorry." She said, tears starting to fall from her face. "I just… I just thought if I could get him to remember he-"

"He'll remember, Yuna. He couldn't forget someone like you. But until he does, you have to remember. He's dangerous."

"He won't hurt me." She said. "He won't hurt me. I know it!"

A deep chuckled formed in Jecht's chest; he let it out earning him a confused look from Yuna. "You're just as stubborn as your old man, Yuna." She wiped her eyes and glared at Jecht who was still chuckling at her. "Don't make fun of me" she complained.

Meanwhile, the feather had taken flight since launched into the air from Yuna's chest. It fluttered to and lingered around Squall. He grabbed it while it was airborne; Rinoa's face instantly appearing into his head. "Yuna" he called.

"Yes?"

"Tell us exactly what happened to you."

"W-well…"

**Yuna's Story:**

_**Part I**_

I know it was wrong but I couldn't help but follow my heart, much like I did when I made the choice to become a summoner. I went looking for him. When I thought no one would notice my absence I went looking for Tidus. Briefly after made the decision to find him and went on the journey to do so, I became afraid and was about to turn back. But that moment a manikin attacked me.

I summoned an aeon to protect myself and right as it crushed I manikin I got a small glimpse of its face. It was Tidus. It was an orange crystalline copy of Tidus.

That was the moment my heart sank. I couldn't help but think that if he was to continue to be a warrior of Chaos I would have to hurt him. It was like trying to stop the rain. I fought the tears but still they fell.

I then decided to continue on my journey to find him. There weren't many threats, just manikins. Thankfully, I didn't have to face _his_ manikin again. I fought many manikins and knew I could handle the journey alone. Eventually, I stumbled onto the castle, Pandaemonium. I wandered about it endless, getting lost in its depths. I thought I'd never find my way out. I suddenly heard a voice. "Where am I?" it called out querulously. I instantly thought the worst. I thought it was a Chaos warrior.

"Who's there?" I called out. Nothing. "I heard a voice, is anyone there?" I waited for any kind of rebuttal: a response, an attack, anything was better than the anxiety coming over me waiting for it. I knew the voice was female. I could swear, in my peripheral vision, I saw black hair appear from behind a pillar far to my right but when I looked it was gone. _Maybe I imagined it_, I thought to myself.

Suddenly, a dark portal opened several feet before me and out stepped a clown. I remember seeing him in a previous cycle of this war but only momentarily. I wasn't aware of how dangerous he is. He taunted me.

"Well, well, WELL!" He was frightening in a crazed maniacal way. "What have we here? A little lost lingering loser" he continued to taunt.

"Who are you?" I asked him. He introduced himself as 'Kefka Palazzo' but he then noticed that I was a warrior of Cosmos and planned an offense. He told me I had to die. I mentally prayed to the fayths, readying them to manifest into the amazing aeons that have protected me for so long. I pleaded to him. "Let me pass" I said.

All too fast, he vaulted himself off of the ground in a backflip and landed atop a broken pillar.

He wished me goodbye and sent a small flying orb of light towards me. I wasn't aware of his form of magic so I didn't expect it to become a fire spell. I was hurt badly. It burned me and the blow sent me flying to the ground. I heard the sound of a blade slicing through the air and I prepared for the end to come.

At first, I was a bit disappointed. As much as I could remember, I'd survived three cycles and recovered most of my memory. I knew I would be revived but I wasn't ready to start over. I wasn't ready to forget anything. Especially him. I knew that next time, without my memory I would not hold back on him. The ground below me began to harbor my falling tears as I thought about having to face him.

I felt Kefka's aura. It was dark an unmistakable. I readied myself as I felt it lunged at me but I heard a scream of "No!" and suddenly, Kefka's aura felt much further away and I suddenly heard a crash on the far north wall. From where I lay on the ground, I saw a black boot appear in front of me. The girl's aura was that of light. She emitted pure power.

From far away I heard Kefka say something but it was inaudible. I heard the previous voice and I suppose the owner of the boot tell Kefka to stay away from me.

I heard even less of what Kefka said the next time he spoke. I started to fade. I heard a thunderclap and the crackling of lightning and I knew Kefka summoned the thunder spell to finish me. It came as a complete shock once I heard the spell and didn't feel it strike me. I looked up and the girl had her had held out at the bolt of lightning, halting it. I was amazed by her. Halting a spell in its casting requires great magical power and strength. But that girl- she didn't look as though she had such great power. She was young, possibly even my age. She had long black hair and she wore a blue sleeveless duster sweater.

After a few moments I heard another thunderclap followed by the sound of crackling electricity far away and I heard it strike. I could sense the tenseness of powerful magic in the air and I smelled the stench of burning flesh. More short moments passed and the girl spun around and crouched down next to me and met my eyes. She cocked her head to the side. "Are you okay?" she cheerfully asked me.

At the time, I knew I was dying. I was very upset. "This isn't how it was supposed to go" I said aloud, talking more to myself than her. She then stood up and waved her hand over me, curing me with a spell. I concluded that the second lightning spell was from her to Kefka. "You know magic" I stated.

She said something then that shocked me. Since I'd been brought to this realm I've met many people. Many different _types_ of people. Lightning, you've told me you are something called a l'Cie, Fran, you're a Viera. But the girl, she said she was a Sorceress.

I thanked her for helping me and introduced myself. She said nothing. I felt bad for her. She was summoned here with no memory at all. She couldn't even remember her own name. I offered to help her find her way back here.

A/N: I know how I'd feel if I were the reader of AngelHeart and I know I'd be looking forward to Rinoa growing stronger and reading more about Rinoa. Rinoa Rinoa Rinoa haha. But unfortunately isn't in this chapter. Sorry, you'll have to wait until chapter 5. And stay tuned for parts two and three of Yuna's Story. Part three tells what happened after she was kidnapped by Cloud of Darkness, while Rinoa was getting tortured. Stay turned ;]


	5. Hidden Agenda

Note: Sorry for the delay. I've been quite busy lately. But I'm back and excited to write more AngelHeart. Thank you guys for your reviews and thanks for reading. I'd like to thank TezrianFlux in particular. Thanks for your positive thoughts, standing by me, and encouraging me all the way through AngelHeart. You guys should read some of his stories, especially "Tainted Clouds". They are amazing. He's my first favorite author. :]

Well, here goes. Have fun reading.

**Chapter 5:**

"Seymour's dead?"

"Yep"

"And _she_ killed him?"

"I saw the whole thing with my own eyes."

"Tell me exactly what happened, Kuja."

Kuja started pacing up and down the first few stairs in Ultimecia's castle. Ultimecia sat cross legged on the bottom step, staring at the pacing Kuja and growing more annoyed by the second. Kuja stopped in his tracks when several large arrows materialized in the air around him. His gaze went to an annoyed Ultimecia whose brow went up in warning. "Oh fine" Kuja said. "I left Kefka with the girl and then he left and I was going to come back to check on her but I saw Seymour go in and I was curious as to what he was gonna do so I spied on him."

"And?"

"And Seymour saved her from death—Kefka nearly killed her having his 'fun'—and then he summoned that summoner girl that keeps showing up around here and slit her throat. After that it would seem that she went berserk and was able to summon up unfathomable power. She escaped her bonds, healed the girl, and killed Seymour."

"Hmm" Ultimecia stood up. "Then it is true. She is the destroyer. The one with the power to destroy a god."

"What are you planning?"Kuja asked, steady eyes trained on the arrows that followed him with every move.

"I'm planning to use her for my own…nefarious purposes."

The Emperor appeared on the stairs. "Welcome, Emperor." Ultimecia said as he descended the stairs. He nodded towards her. "You've got a plan?" he asked her.

"Certainly."

"Pray tell"

An evil smile appeared on Ultimecia's face. "That girl has the power to destroy a god. Why stop at only Cosmos?"

"Elaborate"

"I am thinking that we destroy both Cosmos and Chaos. With no deities ruling over it, this world is free for the taking."

What scared Kuja more than the razor sharp arrows following him everywhere, more than Ultimecia's devious plan, was the horrific smile that started to form on Emperor's face.

"I like it"

_**Sub-Chapter: Rinoa**_

Rinoa felt in her heart that Yuna was okay and instantly, that part of her worry went away. There was still the matter of finding that crazed crown and beating some answers out of him. She'd been kidnapped and tortured and knew that it all wasn't without a reason.

She stumbled into some woods. It was getting late and she had no idea where to even start looking for Kefka and there was no way anyone could see her through all the trees so she decided to rest there for the night.

When Rinoa was deep enough into the woods, she found a massive tree. She climbed it and found the perfect branch to sleep on. There was no way anyone could find her up there. The branch was flat and wide, like it used to be much bigger but someone split it down the middle. She spread out on it and began to fall asleep.

Right as she began to fall into unconsciousness, Rinoa heard the sound of twigs snapping and her eyes shot open. She didn't move; she focused on the sound of twigs snapping. She grew wary and afraid when she stopped hearing the sounds. She gasped and sat up. Looking around, Rinoa found nothing that could've been making the sounds. Albeit, it was obvious someone other than her were in those woods.

Suddenly, Rinoa heard the sound of something slicing through the air, followed by the loud _thud_ of an arrow hitting the wood of the tree beside her. She yelped and wrenched her gaze from the arrow that was so close to killing her to the arrow's origin, a young silver-hair man armed with many weapons.

Rinoa stood up and starting jumping from branch to branch, trying to get away from the man. She came to a stop when the only tree with branches that could support her weight was several feet away. She looked behind her and down to the ground below and saw the man nearing her. Her only chance was to jump. Rinoa took a deep breath and jumped, trying hard to contain the screams forming in her throat. She landed on the branch but lost her balance and fell. She managed to grab hold of the branch before falling. She wrapped her legs around the large branch and looked down to the ground below her. Seeing that it was a long way down Rinoa whimpered and tightened her grip. Using her legs, she managed to get the rest of her body atop the branch.

Rinoa inched back and sat on the branch, her back against the large trunk of the tree. Suddenly, a hand clasped over her mouth, making her yelp. The owner of the hand came into Rinoa's view. He had short messy blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He met Rinoa's wide eyes and put his finger over his lips. "Shh!" he said. Rinoa nodded.

The man looked down to the ground below and watched the silver haired man walk far away, throwing his bow over his shoulder. The blond met Rinoa's eyes. Rinoa almost saw the words hovering in the air between them. The man was telling her not to scream. They both nodded in agreement.

The man slowly took her hand from Rinoa's mouth. Instantly Rinoa inhaled one huge breath, ready to scream. The man slapped his hand over her mouth again. "I told you not to scream!" he said. Rinoa narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't scream" he enunciated each word and took his hand away from her mouth.

"Now," he said. "Are you the girl they kidnapped?"

Rinoa nodded.

"Where's Yuna?" he asked.

"You know her?"

"So she says. I don't remember her"

"She's safe."

"How'd you get away?"

Rinoa didn't know if this guy was good or bad so she decided not to tell him that she killed someone that could've been his ally. Instead of answering his question, she asked another. "Who are you?"

"My name's Tidus"

"Well, _Tidus_! Maybe _you _can tell me _why_ I was kidnapped, _why _I was held prisoner, _why_ Yuna was almost killed, and _why_ people are after me!"

"Yuna was almost killed?" he exclaimed. "What happened to her?"

"Like I said, she's safe."

"What happened to her?" he repeated, stressing each word.

"Seymour slit her throat"

"Damn! I knew I never liked Seymour! Where is he now?"

Rinoa paused and decided to tell him. "I killed him." She readied herself for the backlash she was going to get. "Good" Tidus said. "And I can answer all your questions. But let me set up camp first."

"_Camp_?" Rinoa said, "Don't tell me you're helping me?"

Tidus ignored Rinoa and jumped from the tree and shrugged off the straps of the large bag he had on his back, allowing it to fall to the ground. He held his arms up at Rinoa, still in the tree. "Jump down!" he called to her. Rinoa shook her head, hair flying about. "Come on!" he said. Rinoa took a deep breath and stepped over the edge of the branch, falling to the ground below. Tidus caught her in his arms midair. He sat her down as he unpacked the bag and began to set up camp.

As he tussled with the tent, Tidus decided to make small talk. "So, uh, how do you know Yuna? You a soldier of Cosmos?"

"I don't even know what that is" Rinoa replied. "I met her when she was getting attacked by some crazy clown named Kefka."

"Hmph. Kefka. Crazy is only one name I'd call him"

"You've met him?"

"I work with him"

Tidus turned to Rinoa when she went silent and he saw her face turn into a question mark. He chuckled. "I'll explain when I'm done here." He put together the tent and was running back and fourth gathering firewood. When he was done he tried sparking it with flint. Rinoa saw him having a hard time and snapped her fingers, igniting the clump of wood. Tidus jumped and landed on hit butt. "Mind giving me a little warning next time you do that?" he said. Rinoa giggled and crawled next to the fire. She wrapped her arms around her knees and felt comfort from the warm fire.

She looked across the fire at Tidus who was staring into his. The fire made his eyes look dark. Rinoa crawled over to him. "You okay?" she asked. "I'm fine" he said. He looked at her and saw deep concern on her face. He smiled. "You know," he said. "Trusting anyone that comes to your rescue isn't the smartest idea." Rinoa smiled back. "Well are you a bad guy?" she joked. "You never know" he said. Rinoa thought on it. "Well, since I woke up, only one person has tried to help me. And she went all out to protect me. I figure if someone wants to help me they actually _want to help me._"

They both shared a laugh by the fire. "You should get some sleep." Tidus said. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Rinoa grimaced at him. "What?" he said.

"You promised you'd answer my questions"

"Well what do you want to know?"

"You can start by telling me about this Cosmos-Chaos business."

Tidus scratched the back of his head. "Well," he said. "Cosmos and Chaos are two gods. Cosmos is the goddess of harmony and Chaos is the god of discord. Basically, Chaos is the bad guy. They've been at war for ever. All I know is that they summon warriors from different worlds to fight these never-ending cycles of war for them and wipe out most their memory so that they know nothing other than fighting. Well, that and because you'll never know if someone you know is on the other side. So if you have little to no memory at all-that's why"

Rinoa's jaw dropped and she cupper her hands over her mouth. _That explains why I don't remember anything_. She thought to herself. Tidus went on. "But for some reason, if someone was really close to you—in your own world, I mean—you slightly remember them. If you don't remember everything or even who they are, you feel how close you are to someone that seems like a total stranger. But sometimes it's so strong you remember everything about that person. Yuna's a pretty good example of that."

Rinoa's face turned into a question mark, making Tidus laugh. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Well," he said. "Apparently, Yuna and I are from the same world. We were close there and she remembers everything about me. She even remembered my name when I didn't myself. She's risked her life looking for me three times now. I don't understand why, but I don't remember anything about her but I remember everything about my old man."

That made perfect sense to Rinoa. That was why when she met Yuna, she was alone. If what Tidus said about the warriors was true, then Yuna was definitely a warrior of Cosmos, the 'good guy' as Tidus would put it. But there is no way the other warriors would let someone as innocent and fragile as Yuna go out alone. Something suddenly hit Rinoa. "Wait, how was she risking her life trying to find you?"

Tidus paused, a look of suppressed emotion on his face as he gazed into the fire, intent on keeping his guilty eyes away from Rinoa. "Tidus?" she asked trying to peer around to his face to meet his eyes. "Tidus?" she said again.

"I'm a warrior of Chaos, okay?" he exploded. Rinoa jumped back, flinching at the power in his voice. His stern face softened. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright. I'm fine" Rinoa said, her face growing more concerned about Tidus. They both sat there in silence for long moments. Tidus started glaring deeply into the fire again and Rinoa couldn't help but notice how strong and heroic he looked, the fire blazing in front of him making the skin of his bare chest glow. She didn't care if he was a warrior of Chaos, there was no way the guy was evil. "You're not evil you know." She said, looking into the fire. Tidus's gaze went to her. "What?"

"I don't know how this works but just because you were chosen as a warrior of Chaos, it doesn't mean you're bad."

"Oh yeah? How do you figure?"

"You're too concerned about Yuna. If you were evil, you'd see her as just a target." Rinoa never turned to Tidus to see his face but she knew that it was a look of shock on his face. She was right and she knew it. "That and if you were bad you'd kidnap me, not save me. What's the deal with that anyways?"

Tidus was glad Rinoa asked what she did. That was his excuse for ignoring the truth-he wasn't evil. As long as he didn't have to answer for it, it could run from it. "Well," he said. "You're not fighting for either side. Yet-that is"

"What do you mean?"

"There's a prophecy of these wars. It says that during one of the cycles, a sort of tide-changing would be thrown in. A warrior that wouldn't be summoned by either side. That warrior has the power to take down a god alone. Chaos calls that person 'The Destroyer'. You're that warrior. You're the Destroyer. That's why you're needed by both sides. When you were kidnapped, you were kidnapped by warriors of Chaos. Naturally, you're not a bad guy even though pretty much all of your memory was wiped. So they were gonna make you lose your will to fight. Then Kefka was going to fill your head up with a bunch of dark crap or something. Point is, you'll turn evil and fight for Chaos."

Rinoa was shocked. When Tidus turned to regard her he saw her with both her hands over her mouth. "W-why me?" she yelled. "Why?

"That's why I'm here. We have to get you to Cosmos. You have the power to completely destroy a god. If used right, beyond the point of revival. If Chaos gets a hold of you it won't be good. Question; what _do_ you remember?"

"Nothing"

"You sure?"

Rinoa thought hard. She closed her eyes, knowing that she'd remember that face much more distinctly if she concentrated. She brought her hand up and clutched the two rings on her necklace in it. "A face" she said. "It's a guy, he's young. He has gray-blue eyes, brown hair and-" she gasped. Rinoa reached behind her hair, lifting up her hair and unlatching the necklace. She took it off and dangled it in front of her. "He's wearing this!" she exclaimed.

"Eh?" Tidus had a look of genuine confusion on his face. Rinoa pointed at one of the two rings. It was engraved with the head of a roaring lion. "This!" she said. He's wearing a big one, around his neck.

"I know him! He's a warrior of Cosmos!" Tidus shouted in excitement. "If you meet him, most likely you'll get some of your memory back!"

Rinoa squealed in excitement. "Get to bed. We'll get you to him in the morning." Tidus said, jerking his chin at the tent behind him. Rinoa nodded and with a smile, she crawled into the tent. Rinoa felt happiness, and security when thinking about the guy's face in her head. But she was hiding something. He wasn't her only memory. There was one more face. But instead of happiness and security, when thinking of the female face she felt threatened and afraid. She didn't know why but she thought it was best that she didn't tell Tidus. She lied down and closed her eyes, trying not to think about it. All she saw was that woman with purple tattoos framing her face. She squinted trying not to think about the most frightening feature of all, her cold, threatening, powerful golden eyes…

A/N: Longest chapter yet haha. Not that much action in this one but it tells a lot. Rinoa's finding out more and more. Can you guess who one the woman in Rinoa's memory is? :]

Leave your guesses as reviews. (Hint: It's obvious)


	6. The Deliverer

Note: I am loving your guys' reviews! God! Believe it or not, sometimes I'll write a chapter and get discouraged like 'Ugh, I feel like that sucked' and I'd read your reviews! They totally keep me perked up. I have a basic outline drawn out for AngelHeart and sometimes I feel like it's terrible. Thank you guys so much, a little more than a two weeks ago this was all just a gleam in my eye. It all started out with "I wish there was a Dissidia fanfic with Rinoa in it" and now it's made it this far. Thank you guys SO much!

_**Chapter 6:**_

_**The Deliverer**_

"Rinoa, wake up."

_What?_

"Wake up, child."

_Who are you?_

Rinoa was in a place of total darkness. It was pitch black. She couldn't see anything, not even herself. The words were only audible in the air around her. There was but a faint light a small distance away from her. It resonated and exploded, spreading over every inch of the darkness. It cleared and revealed a seemingly never-ending meadow of flowers. The sun was bright and Rinoa could see again. A slight breeze passed through, blowing flower petals right past her.

Rinoa allowed the breeze and passing petals to caress her face ever so gently. She closed her eyes and enjoyed this temporary bliss. She heard the whirring of a gentle wind turned malevolent in front of her. Her eyes shot open and she saw flower petals circle around in a mini gust of wind. The petals were all those of a pink rose and they spun around rhythmically, creating a small tornado of roses. Rinoa covered her face with her hand and the wind died. The petals fell and a woman was revealed.

She wore a long tight-fitting black dress, the bottom faded into a lavender purple and then white and outstretched evenly like an open flower. The top of her dress had a plunging neckline accented with black feathers around the collar. She wore a headpiece adorned with jewels and a metallic gold half-circle frame on her back with flaps of silken gauze hanging down on each side. She had deep brown eyes and to Rinoa she was amazingly beautiful.

"Hello, beautiful Sorceress" the woman said, a benevolent smile on her face that made Rinoa's heart warm and unafraid.

"Who are you?" Rinoa asked, no longer afraid or intimidated by the beauty and apparent power resonating from this woman.

"Poor girl. This pointless war has taken your memory in its plight of summoning you." She said. "My name is Edea Kramer, the Sorceress before you."

"What do you want?"

The woman smiled despite Rinoa clear forced distance. "I want to enlighten you. You have an unfathomable amount of danger ahead of you."

"I already know why I'm here. I'm the Destroyer." Rinoa said, feeling uncomfortable calling herself such a thing.

"You are not. The pureness of your kind heart does not allow pointless destruction. You are—my sweet child—the Deliverer."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know _how_ you became a Sorceress, child?" Rinoa couldn't help but notice the extensive use of the word 'child'. But somehow, she knew Edea wasn't condescending her. She felt the warm of a mother from Edea. Rinoa shook her head. The woman began to slowly walk towards Rinoa. "You received the power of the Sorceress from me. Although I am more than happy to be rid of the power, I lament the fact that it had to be passed on to you. I cannot help but think that all you've gone through is my fault. But that doesn't take away your responsibility.

"Listen, child. I received my powers from a previous Sorceress at the age of five and several years later, received the powers of Sorceress Ultimecia. In a previous setting in time, Ultimecia possessed me. You may not remember it but you and your friends stood again my body, Ultimecia using me as a puppet. Upon being defeated, I unwillingly gave the power of two Sorceresses to you.

"Later, you defeated the evil, corrupt Sorceress, Adel, and received her powers. You have the power of three Sorceresses inside of you, child. Your power is unfathomable yet still, although two of the three Sorceress powers you own are evil, you are not. When you break your limits, your powers allow you to summon great strength in the form of pure angel wings. Each Sorceress are given a unique affinity. Mine was that of ice, Adel's—that of force, Ultimecia possessed the power to manipulate time and space, and you—your power is of pure, primal magic even though you own the powers of the Sorceresses mentioned."

Rinoa held herself. Was this woman serious? Was Rinoa really that powerful? Then it hit her. As Edea told her about how she and her friends defeated her she began to actually _remember_ it. She remembered standing against Edea with a bunch of people she didn't remember. There was a blonde woman with blue eyes, a pink outfit, and a whip. A guy with spiky blond hair, a black tattoo framing the right side of his face, a brown haired girl with a yellow dress, a guy with a big beige jacket, and the guy! The brown haired one wearing the lion in her memories!

"Who is he?"

"'He' who?"

"That man. The man from my memories."

Edea inhaled deeply and smiled. "You can only be speaking of Squall Leonhart." She said. "He is your Knight, Rinoa."

"Rinoa?"

Edea smiled again, so wide she bared her teeth. "Your name, beautiful. Rinoa Heartilly."

Rinoa's eyes widened. She got a feeling in her gut that told her Edea was telling the truth. She no longer felt as lost as she did. She finally knew her name and recovered at least a little of her memory. Tears flowed down her face and she ran into Edea's arms, embracing her. She sobbed lightly into Edea's feathered neckline. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Edea stroked Rinoa's hair gently. "Now you understand why you were chosen to enter these cycles of war. Your power is extraordinary. Accept your fate, find you knight, and become the Deliverer."

Edea's body started to glow a bright golden light. She embraced and became on with Rinoa, her golden light entering Rinoa's body through her heart. _Rinoa, never forget who you are. You must fight to the end! Even though it may bring tragedy to others."_

Rinoa heard Edea's words in her heart. "I will." She said. She heard footsteps and quickly turned around to see a massive man-like woman with a long braided ponytail flowing behind her. Before Rinoa could think of an offense or defense, the woman started to glow a bright red light and picked her up by lifting Rinoa by her head with her massive hand. Rinoa screamed and kicked her legs. The woman smiled evilly at Rinoa. It was a cocky half-smile. The woman's red light started to resonated and she merged with Rinoa, junctioning herself into Rinoa's subconscious strength. She dropped to he ground and heard the woman's dark laughter in her mind. _Don't be so weak._ She said.

Rinoa instantly recovered the memory of a blond man pushing her to the ground in front of the red-haired manly Sorceress and having being junctioned to her. The man, Squall, was there, fighting the red haired Sorceress trying to rescue Rinoa. "Adel" she said to herself. She knew she was right.

A bright white light flashed before Rinoa, nearly blinding her. She groaned as she threw her hands in front of her eyes. When the light clears, a beautiful woman was there before her, kneeling down next to Rinoa. She was smiling. "You're more beautiful than I thought." She said. She had long flowing golden blond hair and piercing blue eyes. She was nearly naked but she was covered by a long piece of silk that circled around her body, mostly only covering the cored parts of her body. "Who are you?" Rinoa asked dreamily, almost bewitched by the woman's beauty. "Eleyna Dionysus" she said, smiling beautifully. "I was once a Sorceress. I was murdered by people that feared my power and beauty. I regret it was her, but I am the one that gave poor five year old Edea Kramer my powers." Rinoa's brows turned upside down at the sound of hearing that this poor beautiful woman was murdered. "You hold part of me inside you, Rinoa. I believe in you." She disappeared into a ball of white light which flew down Rinoa's throat and into her heart. Rinoa gasped. _This won't be easy. You will be given nothing short of hell. But when being forced into the dark, shine your light._

The wind blew harshly and flower petals flew about endlessly. Suddenly, the wind stopped and the flying flower petals froze in place. Rinoa got off the ground and stood up. She looked around, completely shocked. She walked around and touched one of the petals that was suspended in the air with nothing holding it there. She yelped as the frightening woman from her dreams materialized next to her, smiling. She spoke the name that came to her along with the memory of her, Squall, and the other people standing against her in compressed time. "Ultimecia!" she shouted angrily. She knew the Ultimecia she and her friends defeated previous was that of a different time setting. Ultimecia started to glow purple and without hesitation, she walked into Rinoa's body. The force of such forced Rinoa to the ground. She made herself sit up as she balled her hand into a fist in her hair trying to stave off the headache she was getting. She heard Ultimecia's words in the part of her mind and heart that was overcome with fear and doubt. Her voice was filled with mockery. _Try to stop me._

"_Hey! Wake up! Wake up, we gotta get going!"_

"Tidus?" Rinoa said, looking to the skies.

_Come on! Wake up!_

Rinoa lied back and lost herself in the soft feel of the flowers around her. She closed her eyes and felt her body pulsate. As her eyes fluttered open she saw Tidus kneeling over her. "You're wrong" she said, sitting up.

"Eh?" he said. "Wrong about what?"

"I'm not the Destroyer. I'm the Deliverer." Rinoa crawled out of the tent, hopped to her feet and dusted herself off. She started to walk off, waiting to hear Tidus's footsteps behind her. Eventually she did. He caught up, jogging to her side. "Did you have a dream or something?" he asked. "I don't think it was a dream." She said. Rinoa knew she felt differently. She felt the power she did when Seymour tried to kill Yuna. The power of the four Sorceresses inside of her.

"My name's Rinoa, by the way."

"Whoa! Hey there, you didn't have an epiphany without me did you?"

Rinoa laughed at Tidus. She was ready to accept her fate as the Deliverer. She knew what she had to do. Like Edea told her, she had to find Squall. Then she had to find Cosmos, and defeat Chaos once and for all. Still, with all her newfound strength the final words she hear in her dream world still frightened her. What could Ultimecia have meant? She replayed it again and again in her head.

_Try to stop me_

A/N: You guys were right. It was Ultimecia. Haha I told you it was obvious! And I'd like to make a correction, TezrianFlux is a _girl_. Sorry :]

Thank you guys so much for your reviews. Depending on how the rest of the day goes, I might post the next chapter early. As in tonight. Maybe. We'll see. :]

And sorry this chapter is kinda short but I wanted to make the entire chapter _just _about Rinoa's dream.


	7. Intersecting Paths

Note: I want to thank my two best friends, Lana Goines and Wesley Dixon. Without them, AngelHeart wouldn't be possible. I don't have Internet on my home computer anymore; I only have it on my cell. I write chapters of AngelHeart, send it to them, they read it, give me their thoughts, and post it on . Thanks so much Wesley and Lana! I love you guys! By the way guys, Yuna told the gang the whole story of what happened to her but I decided to spread it out throughout the course of the story because part three contains a little surprise.

_**Chapter 7:**_

_**Intersecting Paths**_

"How many hits like that is a beauty like you going to take?" Balthier said, back-jumping avoiding the upward swipe of the razor sharp bladed fan.

"Oh, I don't know. How many are you prepared to dish out?" she yelled back in rebuttal, taking another unsuccessful swing at Balthier.

After hearing Yuna's story it was decided that the present warriors of Cosmos were to split up and find Rinoa. Lightning was to travel with Squall, Quistis with Jecht, and Balthier with Fran. It had gotten late and Balthier and Fran decided to set up camp in some nearby forests. Little did they know that a horde of manikins were waiting there. When they awoke they were surrounded. Fran told Balthier that she could manipulate the mist and create a portal to take her and half the manikins elsewhere, stating that their survival chances were greater if they only had to deal with half the manikins each. After putting up an argument, Balthier gave in and let Fran do it.

She was right; it was much easier to defeat half the manikins by himself. After defeating them, Balthier decided he'd check out a nearby tower, maybe he'd find their little missing princess in there. He wished he knew where Fran ended up but he knew she could take care of herself. A few manikins would need the help of a fully armed air fortress to take Fran down. As for him, well, he couldn't die. He was the leading man.

He wandered the many floor of the tower, not knowing it belonged to the maniacal clown, Kefka. To his luck Kefka wasn't in. Instead, he was attacked by a woman. She wore pink and was barely clothed to say the least. She had a short blonde haircut and had a pink heart in the middle of her chest. Balthier didn't need introductions with this woman; he knew her all to well from the previous cycle when she was a warrior of Cosmos. Leblanc.

"Boy, don't I love running into you" she said, taking another swing at Balthier.

"You sure have a lovely way of showing it, love." Balthier said dodging and willing his shotgun to turn into a shield. Leblanc took another swing at Balthier and he held up his shield, allowing Leblanc to hit it instead. She jumped back, creating some distance between Balthier and herself and laughed.

"You're cute but I don't see what Cosmos could possibly use _you _for. You never finish what you start" she said.

"I say you've already taken a pretty brutal beating from me. What's the need to go on? Besides, a gentleman knows his limits."

"I'm a warrior of _Chaos_, Balthier. Drop the goody-goody act and fight already!" she swung her fan towards him, creating a spiraling blade of wind that was hurling at Balthier.

Balthier's eyes widened and he had to think quickly to avoid being butchered. He jumped to the side, rolling as he hit the nearby ground. "Ugh!" Leblanc screamed. She placed two fingers on the tattooed red heart in the center of her chest and it started to glow. It pulsated like a normal heartbeat and the tips of Leblanc's two fingers glowed red and pink. She brought her fingers to her pink lips and kissed them sensually making the light on her fingertips pulsate and Balthier heard the sound of another heartbeat. She then raised the very two fingers high above her head and the light surrounding them pulsated again, creating the sound of another heartbeat. Leblanc closed her eyes. "No love lost!" she shouted.

The pink and red lights surrounded her, casting haste, protect, and shell on her. She pointed her fan at Balthier across the room. "This is goodbye, love!" she sang. Balthier's eyes widened as Leblanc darted at him, kicking him into the wall behind him. Leblanc was a pink blur. She moved so fast that he didn't see her until he hit the ground and saw her standing above him. She smiled down at him. She thrust her fan upward, creating a wind so powerful it launched Balthier into the air. He tried to catch himself while he was airborne by backflipping in the air, willing his shield to turn back into his favorite shotgun, and taking a shot at Leblanc. The bullet was instantly repelled by the protect spell Leblanc had casted upon herself. "Damn!" Balthier said before he felt himself get punched in the stomach and flung across the room, hitting the wall. Cracks in the wall outstretched behind Balthier and he groaned and hit the ground with a thud.

The all too fast Leblanc was visible again, due to her not moving, across the room. Ignoring the pain, Balthier forced himself to his feet. "Stop it, Leblanc!" he yelled across the room. "This is not who you are!"

"Oh Balthier, this is _so_ who I am. I may not be all evil but that doesn't mean I won't enjoy beating the hell out of you." She said

"I don't want to hurt you, love."

"Oh yes! I can tell by the way you tried to shoot me."

"I had no choice."

She laughed darkly. "You still don't."

Balthier knew why Leblanc was doing what she was doing. He knew normally, even if she was on Chaos's side now, she would never hurt him. He decided to tread in dangerous waters. "Leblanc!" he called out. "I'm sorry! I should have protected you like I promised to during the last cycle. I've never been able to forgive myself. You were all I had. I'm sorry I let you die."

Leblanc stopped in her tracks in the middle of initiating another attack. She dropped the arm holding her fan to her side. Her eyes widened and her face softened. She wore a look of complete shock. She allowed a single tear to fall down her face as she laughed in aggravation. "Do you know how amazingly pissed off I was when I woke up this cycle on Chaos's side? All I remembered was getting _impaled_ by Sephiroth's big assed sword while you were busy saving your little bunny-eared friend from manikins." Leblanc swallowed back the hard lump forming in her throat, trying to stave off the coming tears. "I've had to live with that memory all. This. Time! And fight alongside the maniac that killed me!"

"I know. It's my fault. And for that- I apologize."

"My ass! It's not enough, Balthier!" Leblanc screamed. "I won't rest until you're dead!" she quickly lifted her fan, readying another wind blade attack.

Balthier came up with a resolve. He knew he wouldn't be able to get through to Leblanc and with Rinoa missing and rumored to be kidnapped by warriors of Chaos, he couldn't afford to die. That and Fran was still out there. He couldn't die, he _wouldn't _die until he knew Rinoa was with Cosmos and Fran was safe. He decided he would have to kill Leblanc himself and beg Cosmos to revive Leblanc on her side next cycle. Then he would keep his promise and keep her safe. Having come up with his decision, he swallowed back the tears that were moistening his eyes.

With his remaining strength, Balthier vaulted himself over the wind blade and when he landed he closed his eyes and held his hand in front of his face. _Fires of war, come to me. _He said mentally. And several flaming orbs appeared around him. _I'm sorry, Leblanc. _He thought and held his hand out to Leblanc, willing the flames to attack her. The flames all flew to Leblanc meeting together before impact upon the wall behind her, creating a massive explosion. Leblanc was blown forward from the powerful force of the explosion. Balthier jumped into the air and caught her. He landed and laid her gently on the ground. _How could that have happened? _He thought. _I never miss!_

Leblanc chuckled softly. "You big softie." She said lowly. "You couldn't hurt me if you tried. And I seriously doubt that you tried just then." She groaned. "Ugh. I'm such a screw-up"

Balthier couldn't help but smile down at her as he held her in his arms. Leblanc started to groan in pain and Balthier couldn't stand the sound. The sound of Leblanc dying was breaking his heart. He stood up and reached into one of the pouches strapped to him. Leblanc groaned. "What are you doing?"

He ignored her, knowing that if she knew what he was up to, she'd forced him to not do what he was preparing to do. He found a potion and –ignoring his own pain and injuries-doused Leblanc in its medicinal glowing liquid. The liquid seeped into Leblanc's skin and healed her injuries, its light shining from inside her. Her closing eyes shot opened and she glared at Balthier as his fell to the ground.

"W-what the hell did you just do?" she yelled at him. Leblanc knelt down next to him. He met her eyes and smiled the smile that always made Leblanc's heart melt. "Keeping a promise" he said. Leblanc smiled and laughed as tears fell down her face. She stood up and tried to cast the Cure spell on him. She held out her hand and the soft magical blue light formed in her hand but quickly died out. "No!" she yelled. "I can't be out!" She groaned angrily and stopped in her tracks when she started to hear footsteps. _Oh no_ she mouthed.

Leblanc's mind instantly went to the portal potion Kefka had made for her. She was glad she still had it. She smashed the vial of purple liquid on the floor and a purple portal formed. She ran over to Balthier and tried taking him over to the portal but he was too heavy. She knew she wouldn't make it in time. Balthier started to summon some reserved strength and tried standing up. With half his weight supported by Leblanc, they both limped over to the portal. Before the footsteps got louder and closer and before Leblanc could shove him into the portal, Balthier grabbed Leblanc's chin and gently pulled her to him, allowing their lips to meet. Leblanc closed her eyes and almost lost herself in the feel of Balthier's soft lips against hers. She quickly pulled back. "This is goodbye, love." She whispered to him.

"My ass, it is" he mimicked her in the accent she adored so much. She smiled and shoved him into the portal just as it began to close. She exhaled deeply. She forgot to breathe when Balthier kissed her. She brought her fingers up to her lips, still feeling his kiss there.

She heard the footsteps approach her and felt the aura of someone very powerful in the room. She spun around and saw Tidus standing in the doorway with a small raven haired girl wearing a blue sleeveless duster sweater behind him. She had her hand up to her fast-beating heart and exhaled deeply. "Oh jeeze, kid. You scared the hell out of me! I thought you were Kefka!" Her eyes went to the girl. "Who's she? Your new girlfriend?"

"Hah-hah. Very funny Leblanc" Tidus said sarcastically. "I need your help."

"With what?" Leblanc asked, crossing her arms across her half-exposed chest.

Tidus jerked his chin at Rinoa behind him. Leblanc rolled her eyes and raised a brow at him, still not getting the point. "Well who is she?"

Tidus gave Leblanc a look, raising both his brows at her. It took a while for it to register in Leblanc's mind but finally it did and her jaw dropped. "It's _her_?" she exclaimed.


	8. Dirty Dancing

Note: Sorry for the delay. I've been _so _busy and when I _do_ find time I desperately want to write a chapter or two but it never happens. I'm currently working on four different stories. One being AngelHeart, the other being another story that I will post on , another is a personal story that I write for my best friend, Lana. Another is called Revision Contrition and I'm hopefully going to make that an actual book by next year. Oh! And my best friend, Wesley, and I are writing a screenplay that we're planning to take to L.A. with us when we graduate this year. So much to do for a seventeen year old haha.

Oh! I never actually put in a note that before I started writing AngelHeart I never actually _played _Dissidia haha. So just over a week ago I finally bought a PSP and Dissidia 012 and I absolutely love it. I've already beaten the 12th cycle story and I'm working on the cycle 13 story. What I've played should definitely help with a possible AngelHeart sequel. ;]. But AngelHeart still has a long ways to go. Feels great to be back. Enjoy ;]

**Chapter 8:**

_**Dirty Dancing**_

"Jecht!" Quistis called out. "Jecht!"

She folded her arms across her chest angrily. She could not believe she bought into his bull. They had crossed over into Chaos territory and Jecht told her he was going to scout the area for manikins. That was three hours ago. The skies were dark and the sun had gone down. She decided to look for Jecht and ended up at the Old Chaos Shrine. As she began to push open the large door, Quistis began to hear voices. They were both female but one had a slight accent.

"I just don't feel right. That last kid could barely fight. It wasn't far!"

"Yeah, you're right, it's not fair!" said the accented voice, "But you know what? We grin and bare it like good Warriors or the gods keep makin' more."

"Don't you ever feel like you're on the wrong side? Some of our 'allies' are more than a little shady."

"Yeah, I don't like that damn clown one bit"

"Or the shady witch"

"Yeah, but there's nothing we can do about it. The best we can do is find that girl. After that, Chaos uses her to kill Cosmos and we're home free."

From what she was hearing, Quistis knew they were warriors of Chaos. She peaked through the opened door. The women were both about the same height, but one looked a little younger. She had a short gray haircut, rust red eyes, black clothes made almost completely of lace and leather, and a sword in her right hand with a big skull right above the hilt, at the base of the blade.

The woman with the accent dressed a little bit more exotically. She had long brown hair but the tips were dyed red. She wore blue tribal-like clothing with brown strapped sandals. Her belt was made of the fur of some kind of animal. She carried a long red spear.

They looked pretty intimidating but Quistis knew they knew something about Rinoa and she needed all the information she could get if she was going to find her. Without proper information, she felt like she was on a wild goose chase. She had to decide if she would run or confront the two warriors.

Before she could make a decision, the warrior with the red spear fell completely silent. She abruptly thrust her hand towards the door, sending a grey-silver-like orb of magic. It happened so fast Quistis barely had a chance to react, she ducked and the orb landed on the ground behind her, exploding into a powerful gray-silver explosion which sent Quistis flying forward, through the cracks of the door.

Quistis caught herself before she landed on her face and heard the door slam behind her. On her hands and knees, she began to get up before she saw the sharp tip of a red spear right before her. She traced the spear back to its owner, the woman with the accent. "Who are you?" she asked.

Quistis's mind kicked into fast-pace. She was always one to think things through and strategizing before commencing battle. She knew that if she revealed that she was a Warrior of Cosmos, the two women would kill her on the spot. But she couldn't say she was a Warrior of Chaos, they'd recognize her. Quickly, she rolled to the side and drew her whip. She hurled it at the woman and it wrapped tightly around her spear. Quistis pulled with all her strength, as did the woman. She felt the presence of something coming, as did she hear the sound of the wind whistling above her. She unwrapped some of the whip that was wrapped around her right hand and let out more of its length. Quickly, before the woman falling above her could strike her with her sword she brought her elbow around the whip and spun around, making the woman fall forward. She quickly unraveled the whip from her spear and kicked behind her, kicking the woman in the face.

She let the full length of the whip out, untangling it from around her arm and cracked it against the ground. It repelled off the floor and bounced off, with one quick move from Quistis's arm it wrapped around the red-speared woman behind her before she could strike Quistis in the back with her spear.

She closed her eyes and concentrated hard, willing her Save the Queen whip to transform into her beloved chain whip. When it did, she pulled against it, tightening its grip on the tribally-dressed woman. As the leather-dressed woman's blade hit the ground before Quistis, missing her in its attack, Quistis used the handle and the rest of the length of the amazingly long chain whip to repel the attacks coming from the woman's sword.

Before the woman could strike again, Quistis quickly moved her outstretched arm around in a circle, wrapping some of the chain whip around her arm again. She pulled her arm back and quickly shot it forward, making the hard metal handle of the chain whip hit the woman in the face, sending her to the floor.

Quistis then back flipped over the tribally dressed woman behind her and brought her whip around and over her head. The woman's body, entangled in the chains, followed the actions of Quistis's whip and as she was launched into the air, about to come crashing to the ground, Quistis spun her arm around, unleashing the whip and stepped on the chains falling from the woman's body sending her flying forward, crashing into the pillar on the slightly elevated ground above.

Hearing the woman on the ground far behind her regain consciousness, Quistis acted quickly. She closed her eyes and held out one hand at the woman before her. _Draw_ she said mentally. Orbs of colorful light started to come from the tribally-dressed woman but before they could reach Quistis, she thrust her hand to the woman far behind pulling herself from the ground. As the orbs of colorful light flew towards the woman dressed in leather, they merged together and created one small orb of gray-silver. As the orb came in contact with the woman, it exploded powerfully and forcefully. The woman groaned loudly at the pain it caused her as she was sent flying into the wall far behind her.

"Paine!" the tribally dressed woman shouted in groaning. Quistis now had both the warriors of Cosmos critically injured on either sides of the room. She felt safe. "I don't want to have to fight any more, you guys. I'll leave now, and we can all escape with our lives if you would only tell me where Rinoa Heartilly is."

"What the hell?" the tribally dressed woman said. Quistis turned around to regard her. She used her spear to help her stand up. She groaned. "I don't know any Rinoas. But I'm Fang, she's Paine…And you're DEAD!" she threw her spear at Quistis. It glowed silver and gray as it flew towards her. It pierced the floor and upon impact the magic inside it exploded, sending Quistis flying to the ground. Fang quickly threw a vial of potion in the air above her and the vial burst. The vial was no longer visible and the healing liquid rained upon her, the glowing liquid healing her injuries.

"Paine!" Fang called out as she hurled another vial of medicinal blue liquid across the room. It crashed and broke against the wall above Paine and the magical blue glowing liquid fell onto Paine and healed her. Once Paine was to her feet, clutching her sword tightly into her hand both her and Fang rushed to Quistis.

Quistis hurried to her feet, wrapping her chain whip strategically around parts of her body. She was facing Paine since she was the closest. But all too fast, Fang was behind her. Fang kicked her harshly in the back, forcing her towards Paine who was bringing her sword upward to execute a blow. Before she was severed Quistis grabbed a part of the chain and with more of it wrapped around the other arm, used it to repel Paine's attack.

"Eat this!" Fang yelled thrusting her spear forward to impale Quistis. Quistis quickly side-stepped and the spear went under her arm. She wrapped the chains around it and pulled both ends of the chain, tightening its grip around the spear so hard it came out of Fang's hand. Quistis used the spear, tightly secured by the chains, to attack Paine which quickly repelled the blow with her sword. Paine swung low and Quistis moved her arms around so that the spear darted towards the ground and repelled the sword. She saw the handle of her chain whip hanging over her left wrist and she unraveled the chains on said wrist allowing the handle to fall. She grabbed the handle with her right hand and flung the razor-sharp tip of the whip high into the air. The whip unleashed itself into its full long glory and the spear was flung into the air. Fang vaulted over Quistis and claimed her spear midair. She landed next to Paine and both of them took defensive stances with their weapons. As the whip came down, Quistis twirled the handle, making it fall in spirals all around her.

"She's not half bad" Fang whispered to Paine. "We should make up a password for entering this place 'eh?" she joked.

"Oh, I got a password." Paine said.

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"How about 'Kick. Her. Ass'?"

Fang smiled, "I like it." She vaulted herself over Quistis again and both she and Paine started to attack from both sides. Quistis simply smiled and held the handle to her whip high above her head. As both the women's weapons came in contact with Quistis she pirouetted around making the whip spiral around her like a cyclone, repelling the blows from both the women. The blade on the end of the whip cut Paine's thigh as it spiraled around.

Before either Fang or Paine could do anything else, Quistis dropped her arm holding the handle at her side and thrust it up again, sending the spiral of whip into the air. She brought it down around Paine perfectly. As Paine's eyes widened, Quistis used her left hand to cast blizzard on Fang. The ball of ice hurled Fang backwards and Quistis jumped back, pulling the handle which tightened the spiral around Paine, encasing her completely, and allowing no movement. Paine dropped her sword and Quistis spun around, bringing her whip and Paine around to slam harshly into Fang.

They both landed with a thud. Quistis made a wave with her whip and it launched Paine into the air and unraveled around her. Quistis brought the whip back to her and caught it with her left hand.

Paine was a bloody mess. Her clothes were mostly ripped and her entire body was covered in bruises and cuts. Even Quistis couldn't help but feeling contrite as she stared upon the broken young woman. _She's so young_ she thought. _This conflict has to stop_.

Fang pulled Paine onto her lap. She allowed angry tears to fall from her face and onto Paine. She glared at Quistis, vehemence clear in her eyes. "She's just a kid" she said lowly. Quistis didn't rebuttal. She moved her gaze from Fang, trying to avoid the guilt Fang was trying to send to her. "You'll pay" Fang said.

"YOU'LL PAY!"

Fang's l'Cie brand resonated and a mysterious multicolored crystal came out of it. She grabbed it midair and threw it at Quistis, it smashed upon the ground before her. She then withdrew a small vial of purple liquid and crushed it on the ground. The purple liquid started to move around before, finally, it flew into the air and formed a purple portal which Fang and Paine retreated into.

_Have fun_.

Quistis heard Fang's voice in the air around her. Her mind drew a complete blank. She started for the door before she heard the sound of metal clashing. She turned around and watched the broken shards of crystal form different piece of metal which clashed and came together to form a gigantic metal eidolon.

Bahamut hovered there, nearly growling as he angrily glared at Quistis. Her wide eyes were trained onto him, trying to watch him carefully to see if she could detect any possible malevolence. The creature looked pugnacious enough but she knew it wouldn't be wise to recklessly attack such a creature if it had no intention of attacking her.

Before her mind could process any escape plan, the creature quickly slashed at her with an open claw. Quistis back-jumped, dodging the blow just in time before she was cut to pieces. The parry was in vain for Bahamut brought his other hand in a fist, striking Quistis midair. She screamed as her back hit the wall behind her. Quistis fell to the ground and she saw fragments of the wall fall around her. She groaned as she stumbled to her feet, unleashing the chains of her whip from around her arm and allowing it to fall to the ground. The clamp holding her hair up broken and her long golden blonde hair fell down her back and most of it into her face. She ran her hand through it, pushing it back and tucking it behind her ears. She looked into the feral-looking eidolon's fiery eyes. "Time to teach you a lesson."

A/N: Whew, that's done. I don't think people give Quistis enough credit. I mean she was a SeeD at 15! Her fighting skills _must_ be amazing. Haha. Btw what're your guys' favorite Dissidia 012 characters? Leave answers as reviews. Mine are: Yuna, Ultimecia, Tidus, Squall, Terra, Kuja, aaaannd I think that's it. I hope I'm not missing anyone. Haha. Until next time! :D


	9. Fire

Note: I love Ultimecia as a villain, and I just plain love Rinoa. I hate when people point out blatant facts that could prove the R=U theory true because I'd hate to believe that such a tragedy happened to Rinoa. That means Squall died, Rinoa became mad and corrupt and evil. It just makes me sad :[. But I thought it'd be a pretty good thing to bring it up. Just to show that maybe it's just as apparent to those close to Rinoa. Have fun with Chapter 9: Fire. ;]

**Chapter 9**

_**Fire**_

"Squall"

"What?"

"What're you gonna do. If she's on Chaos's side?"

"I don't know."

"You can't be serious."

_(What's her deal?) _Squall said mentally. (_It's always something with this woman. She's starting to give me a headache.)_ "You're marching straight into action and you don't even have anything planned out yet?" Lightning scoffed. "Recklessness if I ever heard of it"

_(Why'd I have to get stuck with her?) _He thought. (_She's far too pessimistic. That's the last thing I need right now.)_ Lightning climbed aboard the Death Train. "Is that wise?" Squall asked. "You rather we walk the entire way there? Chaos's side is on the other side of the world."

"Still, doesn't seem too safe."

"Says the Knight marching behind enemy lines to save his princess." Lightning disappeared into the train. Squall decided not to fight against her. He'd may as well just go with it.

Personally, Squall thought that his was the worse party formation ever. Even he knew how cold he could be and Lightning wasn't exactly the most pleasant person to be around. The both of them were extremely hot-headed and preferred being alone. Squall sat there, on the seat of the eerie train studying Lightning who was sitting on the seat before him, her back turned to him as she stared out the window.

He too started to stare out the window as he let his mind wander. He began to think about Rinoa. How she could be a little demanding and how he used to see her as nothing more than annoying. His ever so rare smile started to form onto his face as he started to remember walking into her room watching her wake up. She was beauty incarnate and even Squall couldn't deny that. She was optimistic and strong in her own way.

"What's she like?" Lightning asked, breaking Squall's chain of mental babble.

"What?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"The girl, Rinoa. What's she like?"

Squall knew what Lightning meant but he didn't know how to answer her. Where could he begin with Rinoa? She was pushy, bossy, driven, and somewhat annoying. But at the same time she was beautiful, strong, and kind. "I don't remember" he lied.

"You're the worst liar yet." She said, laughing a bit. Squall frowned.

_(Just drop it.) _He thought.

Lightning got up and walked over to Squall. "Fine, don't tell me." She said. "But Squall, never forget one detail about her. I can tell how driven you are to rescue her even if you don't show it. She's your motivation. Lose that and you'll lose your will to fight. Lose your will to fight and you might as well be dead."

Squall never met Lightning's eyes but she grabbed hold of his chin and moved his face so that he had no choice but to look her in the eye. Squall gazed deep into piercing blue eyes, instantly feeling the severity of her words. "And Squall," she said. "I won't carry dead weight."

Her words were cold and sharp but Squall had enough sense to know what she meant. He now knew Lightning never meant to be as cold as she appeared. But Lightning talks the truth—the hard, honest, blunt truth—even if people didn't want to hear it. Squall nodded once and Lightning let go of his chin and sat on the seat before him. The one directly behind the one she was on previously. It faced Squall.

"Why her?" she asked.

However vague, Squall instantly knew what she meant. "She's not like the rest of us," he said. "Her power is greater. Far greater. She's not a l'Cie, or a Dragoon, or Summoner, or even a Goddess. But her power surmounts all of that. She's a Sorceress."

"Wait" Lightning held a finger up. "Ultimecia's from your world, right?"

Squall nodded.

"And even though everyone calls her a witch what is she really?"

_(What's she getting at?)_

"A Sorceress." He said.

"So why wasn't she given this 'Destroyer' role? She's been here far longer than any of us. She could've had the job done by now."

"It's different." Squall said. "Rinoa hasn't been a Sorceress for long. She may be strong but that's not even close to the peak of her magic. She can only control so much of it and just that is enough to destroy a god. She has the power of four Sorceresses. That, and she can barely control her magic."

"What do you mean?"

"Rinoa's young. Most Sorceresses have years to learn to control their magic. But Rinoa's emotional and sometimes can't control those emotions. When her emotions are out of hand, so are her powers. Her powers are uncontrollable and can still be swayed for evil."

Squall thought a moment as Lightning took time to take what he said in. He felt his heart fall and his stomach knot itself as a familiar thought, once forgotten, came back to him. Once he remembered he wished he'd forgotten again. Some things are best left forgotten.

Lightning saw Squall's face go grim. She felt instantly worried. "Squall?" she asked.

All too fast, Squall got up and, with an aggravated scream, punched the interior wall of the train. "Damn it!" he yelled, punching the wall again. He continued to punch the wall until Lightning shot up and caught his arm before he could land another blow.

He looked at Lightning. She saw nothing but rage in his eyes. She'd never seen much emotion on Squall's face. And to see so much fire in his eyes now, it was frightening even to her. "What the hell is your problem?" she asked.

Squall snatched away from Lightning and threw himself onto the train seat. "Rinoa" he said with a low, broken voice. He looked down to the floor, his black gloved hands balled into tight fists. Lightning kneeled before Squall. "Squall," she said. "What happened? What did you remember?"

For a moment, Squall didn't answer her. He just balled his fist tighter and tighter, his leather gloves started to make squeaking sounds.

Lightning noticed a line of blood trickling out of Squall's gloves, over his wrist, and dropped to the ground below. Without hesitation, Lightning unballed his fists, happy she felt only minimal reluctance from Squall, and pulled off his gloved.

His knuckles were battered, bruised, and bleeding. His palms bruised from his fingers being driven harshly into them. Lightning closed her eyes, concentrating hard until she felt something inside her that made her know she successfully changed paradigms. She stood up and yanked her arm back, as if she was swiftly pulling back the string of a bow and just as fast, a blue-white ball of light formed in her hand and shot towards Squall's hands, healing them completely. She changed paradigms again. Ever so cautious Lightning changed back to commando, just in case.

She looked Squall in his grey-blue eyes. "Squall," she said. "What did you remember?"

"Ultimecia"

"What?"

"There was something that always bothered me. Just thinking about it killed me."

"What was it?"

Squall took a deep breath and began to explain. "Ultimecia is a Sorceress from the future. She became corrupt because—somewhere in time—she lost her knight."

Lightning's brows furrowed in misunderstanding. Squall blew out a long breath. "A Sorceress develops a special bond with their knight. When a knight dies, the Sorceress becomes a shell of herself because part of her died. She usually loses the will to go on. Ultimecia's longing for her knight is shown by her magic."

"What do you mean?" Lightning asked.

"Ultimecia's magic is vast but she chooses to use knight-based attacks. Like summoning dark swords or arrows or lances."

"And that's what you're worried about?"

Squall narrowed his eyes at Lightning. "What happened last cycle?" he asked making Lightning's eyes widen to a bulge. "What're you getting at?" she asked.

"Your friend, Fang. She faced Ultimecia didn't she?"

Lightning grew instant angry. "What's your point?" she yelled. "Think, Lightning!" he exploded back. Fang was winning against Ultimecia! What happened to make her fall?"

Lightning's face softened. "Ultimecia… She summoned something... and it killed Fang" She said lowly.

"And where have you seen that monster before?"

Lightning's mind drew a complete blank. She studied Squall's stern face until she felt her gaze linger lower. It stopped on the roaring silver lion Squall was wearing around his neck. She gasped earning her a look from Squall. "Griever" he said. "And the only other person that even knows about it is Rinoa because she's wearing a ring with the same emblem."

"And you're saying?"

Squall took a deep breath and tried to control his emotions when he spoke. Usually, it was easy for Squall to hide his emotions. He was a lone wolf but when he actually _felt_ anything it was severe. "I think Rinoa is Ultimecia." He said after a long pause.

Lightning's eyes widened but abruptly, her expression softened. She felt Squall's pain. "Get some sleep, kid." She said, earning her a confused look. "There's too much on your mind. You won't be able to concentrate on the battlefield with a cluttered mind."

Squall nodded once and lied back on the seat. After a few moments he was out cold.

Lightning sat on the seat before him, studying him. "Poor kid" she said to herself. She sat there, eyes trained on him until, finally, she herself fell asleep.

When morning came and the sun's light beamed through the window, Lightning was awake. She knew pretty soon the train would be coming to a stop and she'd have to plan their next move. She paced about anxiously. She stopped when she took sight of Squall, still asleep, his face softer than he'd ever allow it to be. He was completely relaxed. _Sleep_ Lightning thought. _Just what the kid needed._

Just then a piercing scream rang out from the distance, waking Squall out of his sleep. Lightning turned and faced the window. "It's Rinoa!" Squall said, grabbing his gunblade. He aimed it at the glass window. Squall pulled the trigger, instantly rewarding him the shattering glass, and before the train could stop or even slow down, dashed out.


	10. High Places

Note: I'm sorry, guys. I promised to bring AngelHeart back to life weeks ago but life had me under its chokehold. I can't believe it's been two years since I started this. Things have changed, my writing has gotten better, and I've found my voice. Nonetheless, AngelHeart has been revived by its 10th chapter, _High Places_. Enjoy!

**Chapter 10:**

_**High Places**_

"Oh, no no no! No. _No!_" she babbled, the look in her widened eyes saying far more than her words.

"What?" Tidus asked.

"You can _not_ bring her here!"

"What?! But-!"

"-Look, I don't give an honest damn what you're about to say. There are some of us here that actually want to survive this thing and go home. Call me cynical, but I don't see how walking around with a timebomb in the shape of a flat-chested girl is going to keep me alive."

"That's exactly it!" Tidus exclaimed, the emotion in his voice raising Leblanc's thin eyebrows. "We fight and fight. No matter how many times we die or how long we stay alive, we're still here! Once we die we forget everything we managed to remember. Who's to say we haven't been here since the very beginning?"

"Who _cares_?"

"You don't get it! The gods keep coming back! And they keep making more soldiers. The only way for this war to _really_ end is to kill one of the gods for good and Rinoa is the only one that can make that happen."

"Yes, and we'll let _them_ duke it out. That's why both sides are searching for her—," Leblanc halted her sentence mid-breath. "Dear god. Don't tell me she's been with _you_ this entire time!"

Tidus was silent.

Leblanc pinched the hill of her nose. "Look kid, I've saved your ass on more than one occasion but you can't expect me to keep saving you if you're _trying_ to throw your hand on the knife."

"Leblanc, you and I both know that Chaos is the bad guy. Who knows what'll happen if he wins. He might-," Tidus stopped mid-sentence. His eyes widened to bulges as he stared, terrified, over Leblanc's shoulder. Perplexed, Leblanc followed the little blond brat's sapphire gaze to the zombie-like blonde girl floating in the doorway behind her.

"Traitor," the girl sang in an almost dazed tone. Before Leblanc could react, Terra was already blowing tiny glowing orbs out of the palm of her hand which flew pugnaciously at Leblanc. In the split second it took her to blink, Rinoa was suddenly standing between Leblanc in the orbs of magic, holding her open palm out and them and halting them in their tracks.

Tidus and Leblanc stared wide-eyed for a moment, before Rinoa flicked her wrist at Terra, sending the orbs charging right back at her. Terra summoned a semi-visible protect spell that faltered and disappeared as Rinoa's _"shh"_ echoed off the walls of the hollow place. The orbs of magic made immediate contact with the mind-controlled Terra. The flames singed her hair, ate away most of her clothes, and created small pyres that crept across her body until she was covered entirely by the flames. She wailed and writhed as Rinoa, Tidus, and Leblanc cringed at the sight of the girl being transmuted into a human torch until, finally, her wailing stopped abruptly. The flames dispersed themselves in a wind that touched no one else and the girl fell lifelessly to the ground.

"No," Rinoa hyperventilated. "I didn't want to. I-I killed her. I-!"

"Oooooooh Leblaaaaaaanc!" a familiar maniacal voice rang out through the halls.

"Oh, living hell!" Leblanc complained in a sharp whisper. "We're finished."

"Rinoa, we have to move," Tidus said as he grabbed Rinoa's wrist and started to take off, only to find that she was planted firmly where she stood like a statue. "Rinoa?"

Rinoa stood there, sobbing, her eyes closed and her tears forcing their way out of her closed eyelids.

"Leblaaaaaaaaaaaanc!"

"Leblanc sucked her teeth. "I survived that last battle for nothing."

"Rinoa!" Tidus begged.

Her sobbing picked up and her the moments between the breaths she took lessened. Tidus and Leblanc's eyebrows furrowed as they stared upon a bright white light that shone through Rinoa's closed eyelids. The tears that seeped from her eyes became white and glowed the same brilliant light. As they rolled off her face, they took on a more thick and gooey consistency. They created a small puddle beneath their feet with expanded and began to pull the trio under with violent force.

"Wh-What the hell is this?!" Leblanc cried, trying to pry her feet out of the quicksand-like substance. As it pulled her and the other two under, she saw trance to the doorway where Terra laid, nudging her burned and mutilated corpse with the tip of his shoe.

"Well, that's unfortunate," he said in an animated voice right before he saw Leblanc, Tidus, and the precious Destroyer be completely devoured by the glowing white liquid that evaporated once they were gone. A smile crept across his face. Now he knew that the Destroyer had more friends that he could toy with. Traitors too. He couldn't wait to string the boy up by his thumbs and wring Leblanc's pretty little neck.

…

"I can't believe you dragged me into this, kid!" Leblanc complained as they wandered aimlessly through a wooded area that they resurfaced in. Since she was forced to kill Terra, Rinoa had gone completely mute. She followed after Leblanc, her arms wrapped tightly around herself and her eyes only paying attention to her boots as one of them place itself in front of the other monotonously. Tidus kept Rinoa cradled underneath his arm, eventually calling for her attention every now and again to see if she would respond. She never did.

"Ugh, Kefka's going to kill me. Literally," Leblanc continued to moan.

"Rinoa, it wasn't your fault. You had to or she would've killed all of us," Tidus whispered to Rinoa, only having her shake her head in response.

"It wasn't right," she finally replied in a monotone voice.

"Do you two even have any clue where we're going?!"

"That's why you're here, right? Once this is all over, no one else would have to die."

Rinoa heaved a heavy breath. "I just found out my name. How am I supposed to kill a god?"

Leblanc threw her hands up in aggravation and groaned loudly as she realized she was being ignored and she stormed off.

"You'll figure it out. Until then, you have us and a bunch of other people behind you."

The question mark on Rinoa's face as she finally looked up into his blue eyes made Tidus smile. "We have friends in high places," he said.

There was a sliver of hope for Rinoa. Being the "Destroyer" or "Deliverer" or whatever wasn't as hard or scary when she knew that she had people behind her. Her big brown eyes sparkled as they stared into Tidus's crystal blue eyes. His smile faltered and his face began to soften. The way the bright morning sun beamed down onto his face intensified his bronze skin. His emotionless face looked much older. He was beautiful.

Tidus looked down into the eyes of the petite raven-haired girl. He'd never put it out of his mind. Since he met her, he'd always thought her beauty was remarkable. She didn't look anywhere near as strong and powerful as she actually was but in her eyes was a fire. A fire to end this conflict. The same fire Tidus had been feeling in the pit of his stomach and in this moment, it linked them. He didn't know what he was doing when he did it. He had no clue what he could've been thinking but before Rinoa could react, Tidus brought his face down to hers and kissed her softly. Rinoa's eyes widened for a moment. She had no clue what was going on but when she felt Tidus's sweet, cloud-like lips begin to part her own, she found herself lost. For a moment, there wasn't the stress of being the Deliverer, the worry of dying, or the pain of having to kill innocent people. There was just this kiss. She felt his strong arm drop from her shoulder and fall to her waist where he pulled her in passionately, bringing her body roughly against his own. Her hand flew up to his bare chest where the last bit of her rational mind would have it push Tidus away but the heat from his body, it only created more passion. Tidus pulled away for just a moment, hopefully in an attempt to stop this madness, but the second his eyes opened just a tad and he saw Rinoa's rosy lips, his body and his mouth became nostalgic, missing their sweet taste and the way she felt against them. _Just one more_, he told himself, planting another soft kiss on her lips. And then another. And another. Their lips locked again and they both knew there was no way this could stop. This kiss became the heaven in their emotional hurricanes. Until Tidus suddenly stopped kissing Rinoa as a loud but muffled _thud _resounded in her ears and for some reason, there was a sharp pain in her chest right over her heart.

She opened her eyes and stared in fear at Tidus as he sputtered blood and fell over onto his face. Rinoa took a couple steps back with her hands over her heart. That's when she saw the blood. The tip of the arrow resurfaced through Tidus's chest and got her just enough to draw the scarlet liquid that stained her blue duster. She looked over Tidus who lay completely motionless on the ground and saw a figure slowly approaching. Her stomach dropped at the outline of the horned figure and even more so when it unfurled its wings. But then the figure came into clear view with a wicked grin on its face and evil in its golden eyes. She knew the figure all too well.

"Ultimecia," the name left her parted lips in a whisper before Rinoa turned and threw herself in the opposite direction only to run into the rock-hard body of another warrior which stood with his arms armed folded across his furry blue chest. She stared up into his eyes and was terrified when the beast snarled at her. Over its shoulder, she saw Leblanc fighting to get out of Sephiroth's iron grip. He threw her to the ground and brought the back of his hand down forcefully against her face.

"Apprehend her, Kimahri," Ultimecia ordered.

Rinoa yelped as Kimahri reached for her arm. She jerked away and sprinted past Ultimecia whose evil grin only grew wider. Kimahri started in the direction Rinoa took off in but was halted by Ultimecia's fiendish hand.

"I'll handle this," she said as she summoned a single arrow that levitated above her open palm.

_I've got to get out of here! _Rinoa thought as she sprinted through the trees, surprised herself that she could string together a descent mental sentence. _I have to find help so I can save Lebla-_

Her mental sentence was cut short as a slicing pain appeared in her right half. In her sprint, her leg gave up on her and she crashed to the leaf-covered ground. She whimpered and moaned as her eyes traveled down her leg and found the injury, an arrow through her calf. And before she could even form the thought of attempting to pull it out, Ultimecia, Kimahri, and Sephiroth—with and unconscious Leblanc thrown carelessly over his shoulder—were approaching. In her desperation, Rinoa let out one piercing shriek before the shaft of Kimarhi's large spear was swept across her face and she was knocked out cold.


End file.
